TSA Top 100 of 2011 Recap: 40 – 36

Do you like hearing about games from BioWare? Then it seems like today’s recap is made for you, particularly is you like games from BioWare that are set in space. If driving is more your speed then there’s some of that to, and even a little shooting. So let’s get to it, and kick things off with a game that lets you live the highlife.

40 – Test Drive Unlimited 2

I know it’s only got a two in the title, but this is actually the tenth title in the Test Drive series. Atari are tricky like that. Released back in February, Test Drive Unlimited 2 sits in an odd middle-ground between Gran Turismo style sims and arcade racers in the form of Need for Speed. Best described as a lifestyle racer, Test Drive attempts to make you feel like a real racing driver, not just someone who spends the whole time behind the wheel. Want to spend some of your winnings on a yacht? Test Drive has you covered. In fact not only does it have you covered but, as Alex described when he talked about the game, it’ll actually boost your RPG-style stats.

So if that seems like your kind of thing you probably want to know if the game’s any good right? Well although Alex discussed the title, we didn’t actually get around to a formal review. However, he put the game down as essentially a mixed bag. It seems to suffer from performance issues when in motion but looks rather good if you want to use the photo mode. However, at least the game is trying something new with its expansive look at the world around racing. If you’re absolutely desperate to see a score then Metacritic puts the PC version at 72, the PS3 version is sitting at 70 and finally the Xbox 360 is down at 68.

39 – PlayStation Move Heroes

Oh Heroes, we had such hopes for you. I mean with a cast absolutely stuffed full of fan-favourites it seemed like Nihilistic were onto a winner. Who wouldn’t want to see Ratchet chatting with Sly Cooper, Jak meeting Clank? However, our dreams were shattered when the game was released in March. That’s not to say it’s actively bad, in fact sitting on a five in our review means it’s simply average, although with the potential for fun this game showed that is fairly disappointing.

With the heroes on display (Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and Sly Cooper and Bentley) you can probably guess what kind of gameplay is on offer here, although it has now had motion control forced upon it. That’s right, you don’t get to pick whether or not you want to use the Move in this game, Nihilistic have made the choice for you. Whilst that’s not automatically bad, there’s just no reason that the game couldn’t give you the choice to use a normal controller if you wished. Move works best when it’s thrown in as an optional extra, removing the choice just tends to irritate.

38 – Mass Effect 2

As we pointed out when this featured in the run down last year Mass Effect 2 is featuring due to its PS3  release in January of this year, almost exactly a year after its original release on the Xbox 360. We were justifiably excited of course, we gave the Xbox version 10 out of 10, so why wouldn’t those of us who live with only a PS3 be excited about the chance to play BioWare’s space opera?

Fortunately BioWare didn’t disappoint, with the PS3 version also sitting on a 10 in our review. With the game engine needing obvious tweaks to run on PS3, the game looks even better than it did when released on Xbox 360. Bundling it with the DLC that had been released was obviously a nice touch, giving PS3 gamers even more to play with out of the box. Beyond that is there really anyone left I need to sell on Mass Effect? I haven’t even played it and I know I’m totally sold on the series. Just go buy it if you haven’t.

37 – Star Wars: The Old Republic

Will it or won’t it? We just don’t know if Star Wars: The Old Republic will actually make release this year, although with EA putting the game up for pre-order and beta testing starting up it’s beginning to look likely that it may well make a ‘holiday’ release. Then again it is an MMO so development times have a tendency to go into a state of flux. Anyway BioWare’s first entry into the MMO genre is seemingly somewhat of a mystery for many right now, we’ve seen a lot of incredible CGI trailers but everyone is being a little tight-lipped on the gameplay itself. However, BioWare and Star Wars does seem like a winning combination, leading to the inevitable levels of hype surrounding the MMO.

Although we’re familliar with Star Wars being set a long time ago, the Old Republic is even further back in time (although the galaxy stays far, far away). Set roughly 3,500 years before the Star Wars films we know and love (and 300 years after the Knights of the Old Republic), the game sees players pick a character loyal to either the Sith Empire or the Galactic Republic. You can probably guess how it goes from there, with lightsabre battles featuring very prominently in the CGI trailers. What makes The Old Republic far more interesting than most MMOs is the dedication that BioWare are putting into story telling, including going so far as to voice every character.

This is almost certainly worth keeping an eye on. I’m not sure I’ll ever be on board with the MMO subscription model, but The Old Republic certainly has me at least a little excited.

36 – Spec Ops: The Line

It’s quite possible that many of you will have completely forgotten the Spec Ops series, I know I certainly had. With the last game being released in 2002 on the original PlayStation it’s certainly been a while for the series. In fact by the time The Line is released it will have been over a decade. That’s right, Spec Ops has missed its 2011 release completely, being pushing back into financial year 2013. That means it’s coming sometime after March 31st 2012, although we have no idea when. It’s hardly surprising to hear of the delay, 2K have been rather quiet about the game since last year’s E3.

What we do know of the game sounds relatively interesting. Set in Dubai after it’s been devastated by cataclysmic sandstorms you’re put in the boots of Delta Force member Captain Martin Walker as you hunt for Colonel John Konrad. The good Colonel had been presumed lost when the sandstorms hit Dubai, but it seems a weak distress signal has been picked up by US forces and you’ve been sent in to rescue him. However it’s not all the simple, with outlaws roaming the desert looking to loot the buried wealth of Dubai attempting to hinder you at every chance.

The sand itself seems like it may well play a big part in the game, with numerous shots of collapsing roof and rooms filling with sand shown in the original trailer. Hopefully the delays from Spec Ops will let the game get to where it needs to be, rather than hinting at it being MIA.

That’s it for today’s recap, I hope I delivered on my promises. We’ll be back tomorrow to take a look at another five games and see which ones have hit the mark and which we’ll have to wait to get our hands on.